“Very much the same that I said after the game, I thought he handled the operation of the game very well – protections, reading plays out. He had a couple of balls, I think, that he would like to have back at the end of the game. Protection’s a tricky thing. You have something protected schematically, but sometimes you get licked. But I thought he did a good job of identifying and getting us in the right protections, which is a big part of the quarterback’s job.”

(On why the offense has stalled at times)

“There are a few things, one being self-inflicted wounds, whether it be a penalty or a mistake. Then you have to give your opponent credit too – they make a play and get you behind the chains or something like that. But [it’s] a combination [of issues], it’s not one thing.”

(On his message to the defense)

“My message is, ‘We’re a team.’ We can play better on defense, so that’s what we strive to do. That’s the way team dynamics work. You have to play complementary football, and we’re going to do that going forward. We’re not perfect on defense by any means, so there’s a lot of things that we can improve on and we will. We’re very, very upfront with our guys and we tell them, ‘This is what we’re doing well, this is what we need to improve on.’ This is a close-knit team. They understand one week it can be this side, the next week it can be that side, so just keep playing and do your best and eventually all three phases are going to mesh, and that’s when you start winning.”

(On who has been vocal in the locker room)

“We have plenty of leadership. We’re not in a shortage of that. And leadership – some of it is speaking up, some of it is just executing better and requiring and demanding and holding others accountable to execute better, whether it be in practice or later in the game. It’s easy to start with the captains, but there’s more than that.”

“The business part of things – [general manager] Mark [Dominik] and I talk about it, but he handles that. As long as he’s [Freeman’s] a Buccaneer then he will be a member of this team and do the things we do. I’ll let that other stuff be handled by Mark.”

(On if Freeman will remain the third quarterback on the depth chart)

“We’ll take it each week as we do all the backups and inactives. I’m not ready to comment on ‘down-the-road.’ I’m, right now, focusing on today and us getting better. We’ll see how everything plays out.”

(On what Freeman has to do to move up on the depth chart)

“It’s not like that. It’s more just what we think is best going forward. We’ll take each week independently. This week, that wasn’t what was best. We’ll see, when we get into a game week a week from now, what is best.”

(On the circumstances surrounding the Freeman situation)

“I’m not going to be naïve. There are a lot of factors involved. This is not high school football. This is professional football and there’s salaries and there’s contracts and there’s those things involved. What I do is I focus on the things that are going to help us win games, and now we're in a bye week, so there’s a lot of things – it’s not a particular opponent but it’s more ‘us,’ taking an introspective look at the Buccaneers and what we need to do better in all three phases. There’s not going to be a ton of practice, but there’s going to be some that we can go out there and get better. Then we’ll get back at it next week and get ready for the Eagles.”

(On if Freeman was instructed not to speak with the media last week)

“We don’t instruct people not to talk to the media. Everything goes through our public relations department. As long as that happens, that’s our policy. So, no, we don’t instruct people not to speak to the media unless it comes through our public relations [department] for whatever reason.”

(On wide receiver Russell Shepard getting work at quarterback in practice last week)

“Well, you always have somebody on your roster that’s your third quarterback, at least if you dress two. You have the ability to dress three quarterbacks if you want. We choose not to. So, it’s either Russell or someone, it depends who’s on the roster that week and who we think can best handle that additional responsibility.”

(On what is most important to correcting mistakes from the first four weeks)

“I think, as I always say, it’s coaches and players and all of us doing our job. Certainly we’re going to examine, schematically, in the first four games, is there a common thread in our failure to do our job? Then we’ll look at [are] there other things that we can develop? Personnel changes occur, so then that allows you to develop some things and to maybe downgrade some other aspects. It’s definitely a fluid process. Weeks like this week give you a chance to really sit back and contemplate what’s best because you don’t have an opponent you’re getting ready for.”

(On what does it mean to finish games)

“I think those adages – ‘we just have to finish’ or ‘you have to learn how to win’ – I think finishing and winning take care of themselves when you do what you’ve trained to do and you execute. I think one of the things we have to learn to do is trust your training the most in the most critical situation and not leave your training thinking you have to do something extra special in that circumstance. Philosophically, that’s my belief.”

(On what needs to be fixed in the running game)

“I think, again, it’s a combination of things. We’ve run the ball effectively at times and then at other times not. Sunday, definitely not, and that was a big issue when you watch the tape. They did some good things, hats off to them. It’s not like they came in here a poor run defense and all of a sudden they found a way to stop the run. They had been playing good run defense and they continue to. Now they did it with some different guys, and that’s disappointing that [they] had some backup guys in there and [we] weren’t able to run it. But I do tip my hat to them and we did some things that were a little uncharacteristic of us. So we have to improve. Just some things in our technique and things we have to get better at.”

(On what makes an accurate passer)

“Fundamentals, anticipation of throws. I actually think Mike’s a pretty accurate passer, our young quarterback. But in general, when you ask that question, that’s where I would [start] – understanding the coverage, understanding the route and then anticipation and then fundamental part of it, which they work on every single day. Those kind of all fit and make what constitutes an accurate and inaccurate throw.”

“It was a good play, it was an exciting play. I was just glad to be in the right position to help this team make a play. We didn’t get a win but [we’re] just going to keep on scrubbing and fighting until we get that [win].”

(On his positioning for his first interception)

“I honestly thought I was just going to tip it, because he threw it pretty high. We knew what they were doing at that point. Me and [safety Ahmad] Black had talked it out and I just sank back, [Cardinals quarterback Carson] Palmer threw a high ball-I thought I was going to miss it and tip it. It was blessing from God, he gave me these long arms and I actually got it.”

(On the importance of the bye week)

“It gives us a chance to just work on the little things, that’s the most important thing. Just get back working on getting our technique and everything perfect. Just working on the small things, just all of the details and get these couple of days and just enjoy them.”

“Dashon, just watching him, he’s a very physical guy. He’s very smart. One thing a lot of people might not know about him is he knows the game of football like a quarterback. He’s out there on the field directing traffic, getting us in the right position. It’s an honor to play in a secondary with these types of guys. I never in a million lifetimes thought I would be in a secondary like this.”

(On how the team deals with adversity)

“For one, we’re going to keep our heads up because a lot of these guys have a lot of self-pride. I’ve got a lot of pride, I don’t want to go out there and lose to anybody, so I’m going to go out and compete every week and I think the rest of this team-we’ve put too much into it to go out and just keep our heads down. We’re going to go out and compete every week no matter what the outcome is.”

“I think it gives us a chance to go clear everything out; all the negative things that have been going around that people have been saying. It gives us a little bit of time to clear our heads and regroup, comeback. We have a 12-game stretch after this. Come back, regroup and be ready for that 12-game stretch.”

(On what the defense can work on during the bye week)

“Even though we played well, there are something’s things we can fix. [The bye] it just gives us time to go back and work on our fundamentals and fix the basic things that we, sometimes, had messed up on. This week is a week that we can take advantage of that.”

(On his attitude toward the bye week)

“It’s a part of the NFL rules to take this week. I just love playing football and if we had to play this week we would play. It’s just like I said, you’ve got to take advantage of it, and they gave it to us so we got to take advantage of it. And the position we’re in now, it could help us in the long run.”

(On what has stuck out in the last three losses that needs to be fixed on defense)

“We just need to finish. Some way, somehow, we’ve just got to dig deep and find a way to try to put games like this away.”